Eurostar leaving Waterloo

[robert isaac]

Although good news for those living north of London,the move of Eurostar to St Pancras next year is a disaster for those living south.  Imagine trying to cross London in the morning rush hour with luggage by tube.  Eurostar suggest its not a problem as you can pick up the underground at Vauxhall (find a train that stops at Vauxhall) or pick up Eurostar at Ashford.  Perhaps I am being selfish as those living north have had these problems all along. Its probably too late to moan. It will drive us back to using the car!  Does any one have any ideas or know something that I do not?

[josa]

I could be wrong, but isn't it going through Stratford as well when it moves? That has good connections from Waterloo.

[Jc]

Jubilee Line.

[Alcazar]

If I lived south of London, my preferred pick up point for Eurostar would be Ashford. Good long term/short term parking, straight onto the platforms from the carparks, and dead easy to get to, either by train, car or bus.

Don't know how many will stop, on the way out, at Stratford. Not too many, would be my guess, as the new line is all about shaving minutes OFF the journey, not adding them with more station stops. More are likely to add an extra stop there, incoming.

I'm glad the original post apologised for selfishness[:)]. We, in the North, HAVE had to do the cross London thingy now for years when using Eurostar. We USED to be able to get a through ticket via the East or West Coast main line that used their trains, the tube, then Eurostar, all for one price,. NOW you have to fight to get a reduced fare with GNER![:@]

And don't let's forget that in the original submission to government, Eurostar PROMISED to run PROPER (Eurostar) trains from Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham etc straight through to Brussels, Paris etc, with intermediate stops in London for some, and at Ashford for others. As soon as the tunnel was finished and they had their money from Government, they reneged on the promise. AND on the promise to run sleepers...THOSE sleeper carriages already bought, (with goverment funding), were then sold for use in Canada, and the profit went back to Eurostar.

What's the betting that the promises made to run more trains serving the SOUTH of England when the new line opens fully, WON'T be reneged on though? Government won't allow THAT will they?

Alcazar

[robert isaac]

Thanks Jc.  I did not know about the Jubilee line.  But is it open?  My underground map shows that it is under construction.  And will all trains stop at Stratford?

[Baz]

[quote user="robert isaac"]Thanks Jc.  I did not know about the Jubilee line.  But is it open?  My underground map shows that it is under construction.  And will all trains stop at Stratford?[/quote]

The Jublee line extension to Stratford has been open for some years. Look here for an upto date London Undergound map.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.pdf

Baz

[Jc]

They must stop at Stratford;it's the end of the line!!

[Baz]

[quote user="Jc"]They must stop at Stratford;it's the end of the line!![/quote]

"And will all trains stop at Stratford? "
If you read the earlier postings, I believe the question was refering to Eurostar not the Jubilee line. Yes, Stratford is the end of the Jubilee line  but  not Eurostar that will end at St Pancras next year.

Baz

[Clarkkent]

 

And don't let's forget that in the original submission to government, Eurostar PROMISED to run PROPER (Eurostar) trains from Leeds, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham etc straight through to Brussels, Paris etc, with intermediate stops in London for some, and at Ashford for others. As soon as the tunnel was finished and they had their money from Government, they reneged on the promise. AND on the promise to run sleepers...THOSE sleeper carriages already bought, (with goverment funding), were then sold for use in Canada, and the profit went back to Eurostar.

 

If my memory serves me correctly the North of London services died because:

(a) Customs/Immigration didn't like the idea of an international service also being used by domestic passengers

(b) The Rail Regulator (or someone similar) would not let intermediate passengers (ie from York to Grantham rather than York to Paris) use the services

The real irony is that the St Pancras/Kings Cross location was chosen and laid out to facilitate NoL services.

[Owens88]

NoL ?

[Dick Smith]

I think North of London. I've heard of it, but I've never been there, of course...

[Teamedup]

WHAT?

what are you going  on about, you are already sur place. Some of us have hours of travel and have to use several forms of transport before even catching a train that eventually gets us to ie Kings Cross or any of the other stations that serve various british backwaters, and then have to get to Waterloo. And from Kings Cross two changes. So please stop whinging about just getting across town.

 

 

[robert isaac]

Not whingeing!  Just wondering how commercially Eurostar can justify bragging about this great improvement to their service, when to many of their existing passengers they are making the journey slower by about an hour! The French have put their international terminal at Lille, from where you can connect to anywhere in France. I suppose that geographically that would not work here, and anyway we only spend public money in this country on roads - well a little public money! - and none on railways.Why could Eurostar not keep a presence at Waterloo, and in the process retain the goodwill of many of their existing clientele?

[Jc]

If I want to travel to the South of France,it is far quicker to travel via Lille,as I can go direct from there,but if I go via Paris I must not only change trains but stations.

[Owens88]

>The French have put their international terminal at Lille, from where you can connect to anywhere in France. .....Why could Eurostar not keep a presence at Waterloo, and in the process retain the goodwill of many of their existing clientele?

Well the better model would have been to use the Ashford terminal better - and put 'nationwide' inter-city links in there. (akin to the French using Lille).

Anything trying to use London as an interchange is at best a half solution and costly with it. One reason the roads get used  is that we can drive to Dover or Portsmouth without being forced through London.  We should never have put the investment into Waterloo Eurostar at all. ??

(smile from somebody who thinks there is more to Britain than the South East !!)

 

[Ron Avery]

"Why could Eurostar not keep a presence at Waterloo, and in the process retain the goodwill of many of their existing clientele?"

John, simply because the high speed link does not go to Waterloo, Eurostars have for many years had to share already busy lines into Victoria with commuter trains and only for the last couple of miles where it turns off the line to Victoria and picks up the route to Waterloo does it have its own dedicated route in London.  Waterloo to Kings Cross dead easy, Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus and a cross platforn change onto the Victoria line to Kings Cross, where a dedicated route and escalators to the new terminal are being built as we speak.

Ashford is a good place to get Eurostars to avoid London, but when Ebbsfleet opens, insiders in the Rail industry have long suggested that Ashford stops willl gradualy be dropped.  After all what is the point of a high speed line if the train stops and starts too often? Ebbsfleet with its road links and rail connections will I am sure replace Ashford, otherwise, why would they be making 12,000 car parking places there?  Oh and anyone who thinks Ashford can easily be reached by bus has never lived there.  The service from all the surrounding towns is abysmal.  Heh TU, someone else on the Forum whingeing???  Big southern jessie, Can't have that can we [:D]

[Owens88]

Hi Ron

The line you reply to was me quoting from Robert.

In any case Ebbsfleet sounds good, any interchange hub rather than a capital city which requires terminal changes and doesn't have sensible parking.

John